The Lone Sailor Soldier
by LunaMay
Summary: This fic is based on an RPG - most of the characters are otaku senshi with powers based on the elements, but the original Sailor Senshi do appear here =) The Element Senshi are attacked by a corrupt, evil entity that sends them into strange and new reali
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One  
  
May lifted her face to the warm sun and closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply - the scent of flowers and fresh water filled her.  
  
Behind her, her friends Jessica, Molly, Aurora and Evelyn were laughing. May turned around and surveyed the scene. It was a beautiful place - a clear blue lake surrounded by lush green plants and pink flowers.  
  
"Come on, May! Jump in!" called Jessica, waving from the lake. May grinned. Of course she would - there was nothing May liked to do more than swim.   
  
Suddenly, she found herself high above the scene, on a cliff. Her friends were in the lake below, waving. She waved back, then lifted her face skywards again. She took a deep breath, and jumped.  
  
May's laughter rang out clear as bells as she floated from the cliff and through the warm air. She turned over and over, her long brown hair wrapping around her limbs like ribbons. May opened her eyes just before she hit the water.  
  
Under water, it was quiet, and the world was dark blue. May let herself go limp, floating deeper and deeper into the lake, her friends' legs kicking above her. She laughed, and bubbles formed out of her mouth. She didn't even think it odd that she could breathe down here.  
  
*******************************************  
  
Someone was shaking her. Hard. May's head flopped against the pillow.  
  
"Get off," she said, trying to grab the covers and pull them over her face. "I don't have school today."  
  
"Wake up, May! It's an emergency!" It was Aurora.  
  
May sat upright. She wasn't at home, in her bedroom like she thought. She was back in the Moon Palace, back in her own time.  
  
"Aurora! What's going on?"  
  
"The Moon Kingdom is under attack!"  
  
May was up in a flash. She didn't even bother changing out of her nightgown - apparently, Aurora hadn't either. The two girls raced down the hall to the throne room, where their queen, Neo Queen Serenity, awaited.  
  
"Who is attacking the Moon Kingdom?" May asked, before anyone else could say a word. "We've been in peace for so long."  
  
Neo Queen Serenity gestured to the large ornate crystal ball which floated in the center of the room. It displayed the scenes of the Kingdom in chaos. May rushed up to the crystal. "Monsters... evil entities! But how? We restored peace to the Universe, in the past..."  
  
"Somehow the evil which was vanquished in the past has come to their future," Serenity said sadly. "We do need to figure this out, but the first thing to do is cease the violence."  
  
"Where's Jessica and the others?" May asked.  
  
"I've already sent them to the Kingdom. Go now, Sailor Senshi - strength be with you."  
  
May looked at Aurora, and they nodded. Holding out their hands, their transformation lockets appeared.  
  
"MOONBURST COSMIC POWER MAKE-UP!" Aurora called, immediately followed by May, who called, "AQUA COSMIC POWER MAKE-UP!"  
  
In a burst of sky blue and deep blue light, Aurora and May transformed into their Sailor Senshi forms - Sailor Moonburst and Sailor Aqua, respectively. Without hesitating, they broke into a run, and left the castle.  
  
***********************************  
  
"This is the end of your peace, Sailor Senshi!" screeched a hideous being that appeared to be half scorpion and half melting. It lifted its quivering scorpion's tail, and shot acidic mud at the Senshi.  
  
"Eek!" Sailor Wind, the leader, yelped as she pushed her teammates, Sailor Fire and Sailor Earth, out of the way. "Watch out for that stuff!"  
  
Aqua and Moonburst rushed to the battle, which was on the outskirts of the Kingdom, just in time for the mud to land at their feet. They both skidded to a halt, and watched as a deep hole was burnt in the soil.  
  
"You guys started the party without us?" Aqua said.  
  
"You're just in time," Wind replied, ignoring Aqua's crack. "Fire, Earth, and I have been battling this Mud Scorpion ever since we got here. We need to use the Rainbow Elemental Sceptre on it."  
  
"Lead on," Moonburst said. She was looking over their shoulders - there were hundreds of monsters terrorizing the Kingdom and its people, and they couldn't afford to be held up by this one.  
  
Sailor Wind held out her hand, and there was a faint white glimmer above her palm. It formed into a medium-sized scepter with a white jeweled handle and a prismatic white sphere on top. Fire, Earth, Moonburst, and Aqua quickly took their positions on either side of Wind, each with their hands touching the Scepter. Then, in unison, they called, "Rainbow Elemental Energy Kiss!!"   
  
With that, the Scepter exploded in a flash of gold and rainbow light. The light burst towards the Mud Scorpion in prismatic shards, and the beast howled as he was pierced right through. As more and more shards of light blasted the monster, it became blindingly bright, and finally there was a deafening explosion.  
  
When her vision cleared, Aqua looked around. "Great, it's gone! But..." she said, noticing the monsters within the Kingdom and sounding dismayed, "There are still tons to deal with in there."  
  
Sailor Fire did not want to waste a moment. "Let's go," she said. "I can sense great evil coming from the center of the Kingdom... and it's not from those monsters."  
  
They ran through the front gates and into the Kingdom as a tight group. They were confronted by yet another monster that had insect-like attributes, this time it was a flying wasp.  
  
"I can't stand bees," Aqua said. She held out both her hands, and a streak of blue flashed between them, forming her Teardrop Staff. She gripped it tightly. "Let's vanquish this one quickly!"  
  
***********************************  
  
In the center of the Moon Kingdom, as Sailor Fire had predicted, an entity above the petty monsters awaited the Senshis' arrival. Usually a well-lit place, thanks to decorative lamps, storefronts, and restaurants, the Kingdom center was darkened, lit only dimly by a half-moon struggling through stormy clouds. A darker figure floated above an ornate fountain, turned off at the moment.  
  
One would not be able to see this, but the figure was smiling. It had been a long time since anything this interesting had happened.  
  
***********************************  
  
Meanwhile, the Senshi were still battling the giant wasp. "Rainstorm Deluge!!" Aqua cried, and the sky above them became grey with thick clouds - even moreso than it already was. Rain suddenly began to pour down, slanting towards the monster. Harder and harder the rain fell, untill the raindrops were streaks of bright blue, like lazers.   
  
"BZZZZZZZ!!!" The wasp intoned in agony, as the rain forced it down to the earth and began to beat down on it relentlessly. However, when Aqua's attack ended, after struggling in a pool of water for a moment, it got right back up and starting lunging at the Senshi with its stinger, angrier than ever.  
  
"Oh, great!" Wind said, as she leapt out of the way, and tried to wack at the wasp with her own staff. She managed to hit it, but that made it even angrier, and it dove at Wind furiously. "Yikes!" she yelped.  
  
"Sailor Wind!" Aqua ran towards the giant beast and jumped onto it with all her might, pushing it away from her friend. She landed ontop of it, and it writhed frantically, before buzzing loudly and flying up again, taking Aqua with it.  
  
"Hey!" Moonburst yelled. "Get down here!"  
  
Clap... clap... clap... an eerie sound, suddenly, and it seemed as if everything else had gone silent except for the slow, rhythmic clapping. Clap... clap... clap... the unearthly sound echoed through the Kingdom, and especially in the Senshis' heads.  
  
Sailor Moonburst nearly dropped her staff trying to cover her ears. "What IS that??"  
  
"It's that evil I sensed..." Fire replied, covering her own ears and squinting her eyes. "I'm sure of it."  
  
"What's that noise? What is it??" Wind was looking around, frantic.  
  
"Isn't anyone going to help me get down from here?" Aqua was still drapped over the wasp, who was no longer in attack mode - it was simply hovering there.  
  
::What do you mean "What's that noise"?:: a strange, inhuman voice rumbled through the rapidly darkening Kingdom. ::Don't you know applause when you hear it?::  
  
"What?!" Wind exclaimed. "This is just too weird..."  
  
::Beautiful display of technique, if I do say so myself,:: is all the voice would say in response. Aqua found she had to struggle in order to decipher the low, deep voice.  
  
"Who are you to say?" Aqua looked up from her airborne perch, but all she saw now was blackness.  
  
::This is so impersonal,:: said the voice. ::Come, let us talk in person, face-to-face.::  
  
-SNAP!-  
  
Aqua felt a short falling sensation, like the wasp beneath her had simply vanished. Before she could yelp, she landed bone-jarringly hard on a cobblestone street. She heard the thumps of her friends around her - they had fallen as well. Apparently that "person" had somehow picked them up and deposited them somewhere.  
  
Aqua squinted through the darkness, wishing her eyes would adjust more quickly. She felt someone grab her arm - it was Sailor Wind. "We're still in the Kingdom," Wind whispered, and Aqua nodded.  
  
"Look!" Earth said in a hushed voice, directing everyone's attention in front of them.   
  
An area in the darkness seemed blacker and more solid than the night. Aqua squinted, but she couldn't make out what it was. It was radiating evil energy, though. This did not feel right at all... and the Kingdom was too quiet... what happened to all the monsters that were attacking earlier?  
  
The figure was changing shape. Or that's what Aqua thought at first... as she watched, she realized it was raising its arms, slowly out to its sides, then straight up above its head. There was a strange silence... then a soul-shaking explosion that blasted the Senshi back several feet. Aqua felt herself land on Sailor Earth, who had been behind her. She opened her eyes, and a swirling blue portal had opened behind the being. It sparked with black and purple electricity.  
  
"What's that thing?!" Aqua exclaimed, fearing the worst.  
  
::I said I wanted to talk with you,:: it was the same voice as before - so this was the creature - ::but... I changed my mind. *NEGAVERSE ANATHEMA*!!::   
  
It spoke of an evil spell Aqua had never heard of - and then she felt herself being lifted off her feet by a powerful vaccuum, and pulled towards the portal. Hurricane winds and energy and electricity coursed around her, making everything a whirlwind of chaos and confusion. She opened her mouth, and knew she was screaming, but couldn't hear anything over the roar of the portal. First she was being pulled jerkingly towards the swirling black hole, then she was lifted completely off the earth and flying weightlessly into it.   
  
The last thing Aqua remembered was Sailor Wind's hand slipping out of her grip.  
  
***********************************  
  
to be continued in part two...  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
Falling... falling... for a long time, that was all Aqua was aware of. No sound, no sight... nothing but the sensation of falling.  
  
"Where am I... what is this..." Aqua's thoughts came a lot slower than normal, and she had to struggle to hold onto them. But when she completed the sentence in her head, there was an abrupt stop to the weightless falling, and every bone in her body was jarred. Aqua forced her eyes open. Now she was merely floating, in an unearthly plane of darkness. It was all...nothingness?  
  
But she could see herself... Aqua looked down at her hands. It was as if there was a spotlight on her, but she couldn't locate the light source. There was none. Oddly enough, in this realm of blackness, there were no shadows.  
  
Something was coming into view... from the side of her vision. It was then that Aqua realized she wasn't upright, but lying down. And still falling, but slowly. A lake! A clear, dark blue lake in the middle of nowhere. For some reason, irrefutable dream logic told her that water was the pacification she needed.  
  
Aqua stretched out her arms... turning so she was falling face-first towards the water... closer... closer... then, just before her fingertips touched the glassy blue-black surface, something pulled her by the back of her neck, and she was speeding along sideways, faster than before.  
  
"No!!" Aqua cried in dismay, the water skimming past her, still a breath's width away from her. "No!!" She was leaving the lake now, plunging back into the oppressive darkness.  
  
*******************************  
  
"No!!" A heavy weight. Solidness beneath her. But soft... and she could breathe. "Where..."  
  
May opened her eyes again, not realizing she'd ever closed them. This place was familiar... it was her bedroom, back on Earth. Back in the past. It was night time. She sat up. This situation seemed familiar, too... why did she feel so confused? May looked at the clock. It was two in the morning, not night. She should get some sleep, she had school today... why did thinking that feel odd?  
  
Because... because... May stood up from her bed and walked to the full-length mirror mounted on the back of her door. She looked at her reflection, greyish in the moonlight. She was wearing her nightgown. But... that wasn't right. She was last wearing a different night gown... royal clothing... because she was in the Moon Palace!  
  
It was all coming back to her now. She'd been at the Moon Palace, back in her own time. The Element Senshi had completed their mission back in the past. And no - she wasn't last wearing her night gown. She'd been wearing her Sailor fuku.  
  
And she'd been wearing her Sailor fuku because they'd been in a battle. Insect monsters. The Moon Kingdom. That mysterious being!! It was the reason she was here. It opened that portal!  
  
May dove for the phone on her bedside table, and dialed Jessica's number, even though it was nearly three in the morning. It rang a couple times, then there was a strange clicking sound.  
  
"I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service," said a recording. "Please check the number and try again, or dial zero for operator."  
  
"What?" May said to the recording. That couldn't be possible. Jessica was her best friend - they talked on the phone so often she had memorized her number and was able to say it backwards. Still, she dialed again, and again, and each time got the same recording.  
  
"Stupid phone!" May hung up and flopped down on her bed, feeling defeated.  
  
***************************  
  
May hadn't been able to sleep after that. She just sat in bed until it was time to go to school, then got dressed dutifully and left the house.   
  
The streets looked slightly different from the way she remembered them, but May just accounted that to being to used to the Moon Kingdom. Two girls were running towards her, giggling. May stepped aside to let them pass. The girl in front had a very strange hair style... long blond hair tied in two pigtails with big round balls on top. Like tennis balls...  
  
"Neo Queen Serenity?" May blurted, and the girl skidded to a halt, making the other girl, who had long blong hair tied in a red bow, crash into her and fall down.  
  
"What did you say?" It was the Queen! But... younger. Much younger.  
  
"What are you doing in the past?" The girl gave her an odd look. May tried again. "Queen Serenity, it's me, May!"   
  
"I.. er... don't know any Queen Serenity, gomen," Young Serenity scratched the back of her head, and glanced at her friend. The other girl shrugged. "Sorry, but I've gotta go... I'm late for school." She waved, and the two ran off, leaving May standing on the sidewalk, stunned.  
  
It was definitely strange, but it didn't take long for May to figure it out... she wasn't just in the past... she was in Neo Queen Serenity's past! This must be before she found out she was the Moon Princess. But... May turned around to look at her house. Her Earth home... that was her past. Much after the time of Princess Serenity...  
  
Even though she was standing right out in the open, May took out her transformation locket and opened it. Each of the Element Senshis' lockets gave them the ability to communicate with each other. "Jessica... Sailor Wind! It's May! I just saw the weirdest thing! ... .... ...   
  
"... Sailor Wind?"  
  
continued in Part Three  
  
  



	3. Chapter Three

Part Three  
  
May stood on the sidewalk, staring at her unresponsive locket. She was stunned; in shock. Never had any call using the locket gone unanswered by anyone. She knew that as a fact. Even if Wind hadn't been able to answer, someone else would have. Yet, the white crystal which was used for communication was a dull grey.  
  
Moments passed, but May didn't notice. She was frozen to the spot. Her mind was trying to work out the situation, but for some reason, she just couldn't decipher the problem. Her brain just wouldn't go that way.  
  
"May! Hey, May!" A young male voice called, and May quickly shoved her locket back into her school bag. She turned around to see a boy about her age, with chin-length black hair, running towards her. His face was bright with a smile of recognition, familiarity, and relief.  
  
"Oh, man! I can't believe I'm late today." He skidded to a stop before her, bending over to place his hand on his knees. He took a few breaths, then looked up at May and smirked. "I can't believe you're late today," he added.  
  
May furrowed her brow. Who was this guy? She opened her mouth--then closed it. Judging by the morning's earlier events - that is, seeing Neo Queen Serenity in her teenaged form - was evidence enough that this was no ordinary day... or place. Everyone seemed to know what was going on except herself... suddenly May felt like an intruder. She wasn't in her own place. This boy, however, probably was.   
  
"Come on," he was saying, "We'd better get to school before the second late bell." He started walking again, but then stopped, and turned back to May, who was still standing stiff like a stick in mud. "Are you all right?" he asked, peering at her curiously.  
  
"... Ah, yes, I'm fine," May said, a bit too hastily. When he wouldn't stop looking at her, she explained, "I just had... a headache this morning. That's why I'm so late. I thought it was coming back... but I'll be all right."  
  
May assumed he accepted her answer, because then he just smiled, took her by the elbow, and walked her quickly to school.  
  
*********************************  
  
Much to May's relief, her classes were the same as she remembered them - except for the fact that there were several new faces around her. She didn't recognize her Biology or English teachers, and about half the students were unrecognizable. Still, at least some things hadn't changed. May appreciated the fact a lot more than she ever had.  
  
After her third class, the students had a lunch break. May was putting her books in her locker and hoping the cafeteria hadn't moved, when somebody tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to face... Young Serenity.  
  
"Queen--I mean, hello," May's face flushed.  
  
"Hi!" Serenity smiled. "I knew I recognized you this morning - you're Aidan's friend, right?"  
  
Aidan? Was that the boy from this morning? Well, May knew she didn't have any enemies, so it was safe to nod.  
  
"Here," the young Queen said, handing May a notebook. "We just had a class together, and he left this on my desk."  
  
May looked at the cover. A spiral notebook, with the words "Chess Club" written on the cover. "Thanks," she said, trying to keep the mystified look off her face, "I'll give it to him when I see him later."  
  
"Great! See you later!" Serenity flashed another bright smile, and dashed off to meet her friends.  
  
As soon as Serenity and her friends had left, and May was sure no one was watching, she turned back to her locker and studied the notebook in her hand. She flipped to the first page. There was a computer printout paper-clipped to the inside of the cover. It was a list of Chess Club members... Aidan's name was at the top. May's was about one-third of the way down the page. She raised her eyebrows. She'd never been in the chess club before. "I guess I am now," she muttered, under her breath.  
  
The first page of the book was blank, but there was a hand-drawn map that spread across the second and third pages. May recognized it as the area of the city she lived in. Sure enough, there was her house, with her name written on it. Most of the houses were named. May traced the path with her finger that she took to walk to her friends' houses. That's when things got strange.  
  
The temple that Aurora lived in wasn't a temple, but a library. Had Aidan gotten that wrong? She looked for Molly's house. It was there, but the name written on it read, "Sarah Mason." Sarah? There was no Sarah in Molly's family.  
  
With a strange lump building in her throat, and a heaviness to her heart, she slowly traced her way to Jessica's house. It wasn't even there.   
  
*********************************  
  
May hadn't seen Aidan or Queen Serenity for the rest of the day. At least she thought she didn't - after seeing the map in Aidan's notebook, her mind was in such a fog she was hardly able to take in anything of her surroundings.  
  
After school, May wanted to go home, but apparently she had the Chess Club to attend. She took one last glance at the map, and tried to memorize it. Despite the situation, May was secretly thankful to Aidan for supplying this information on her new surroundings.   
  
She arrived at the Chess Club a few minutes late, as she never knew where the meetings were held in the first place. Several students were seated at desks, in small groups, playing or observing. Aidan sat by himself - when he spotted May at the door, he waved.  
  
"You're sure punctual today, eh?" he teased her when she approached the desk and sat down.   
  
"Sorry," May said, smiling slightly. "Here - someone gave this to me. You left it behind." She handed the notebook to him, and a look of relief washed over his features.  
  
"Ah, great. I was looking for that. So. Shall we start?" He gestured to the chessboard between them.  
  
The rest of the afternoon passed peacefully for once, and May even found it relaxing as she played her way through several tournaments. When people started packing up their chess pieces, she was surprised to find herself feeling slightly dismayed. It was like returning back to the real world... the reality that May kept wishing wasn't...reality.  
  
Aidan punched her playfully on the arm. "Hey, don't look so letdown," he said. "You played great today. You'll probably be chosen to represent our club in the School Championships."  
  
"Really?" This was more news to May.  
  
"Sure. Did you hear, the tournment is going to be held at that new culture center downtown?" When May shook her head, Aidan continued, "I passed by it the other day. It's really cool. Do you want to check it out tomorrow, after school?"  
  
"Sounds good," May said, smiling. However, she had a feeling she'd already seen the culture center... it must've been fifty years old. But at least she'd get to see it after it had just been built. Just wait until she told Aurora about that. She and Aurora had walked there several times to look at the paintings, and ... May realized what she'd been thinking, and a lump caught in her throat.  
  
*********************************  
  
When May walked home later, the sidestreets she took were more or less quiet. She walked slowly, watching her feet mechanically move over the grey, cracked sidewalk. The day's events played over lethargically in her mind.  
  
May obviously didn't belong here. She'd been pulled out of her own reality, and pushed into this one. Nobody seemed to notice this, though. Was that a good thing, or not? Perhaps it did make some things easier... but still... May missed her friends with a crippling passion.  
  
She arrived at her house and shuffled up to the door step, where she sat down. She reached into her school bag and withdrew her locket again, opening the top, but making no attempt to use the communicator crystal. She simply stared at it.  
  
Things were so different now. She learned this morning the communicator in her locket didn't work. What about... the actual transformation crystal? Would May still be able to transform into Sailor Aqua? Did she still have her Sailor Senshi powers?  
  
May's breath caught in her throat as a sudden realization came like a holy revelation. Would she... even need to have her Sailor Senshi powers?  
  
*********************************  
  
to be continued in Part Four  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
